Katie Ledecky Posts Third-Fastest 800m Freestyle Time at U.S. Championships

Indianapolis, Indiana — Katie Ledecky nearly broke her own world record in the 800m freestyle at the Toyota U.S. Championships on June 3, 2025. The nine-time Olympic gold medalist swam the third-fastest time in history, finishing with a time of 8 minutes, 5.76 seconds.

Ledecky dominated the race, winning by a remarkable margin of 13.91 seconds. She began the race strong, leading under her own world record pace through 650 meters. This performance guarantees her a spot at the World Championships in Singapore this July and August.

The only faster times recorded are her previous world records: 8:04.12 from May 3, 2025, and 8:04.79 from the 2016 Olympics. Ledecky leads in having the top 11 performances globally and the top 29 performances in American history.

“The 800m was my last race in Fort Lauderdale (on May 3), and then having it the first race here, it kind of felt like I was just going right back into it,” she said during an interview on Peacock. “I kind of dove in, and it almost felt like muscle memory.”

At 28 years old, Ledecky is poised to become the first American swimmer to compete in a seventh World Championships, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon. She also aims to be the first swimmer to win a world title in the same event seven times.

The championships continue on Wednesday with finals scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

In other notable performances, Torri Huske won the women’s 100m freestyle with a time of 52.43 seconds, marking the fastest time ever recorded in an American pool this year. Olympic champion Bobby Finke captured the men’s 1500m freestyle with a 9.18-second lead over his competitors.

Jack Alexy set a record in the men’s 100m freestyle prelims with a time of 46.99 seconds and won the final in 47.17 seconds. Meanwhile, Luca Urlando triumphed in the men’s 200m butterfly with a time of 1:53.42, improving on his previous best of 1:52.37 from April.

Rising Stanford junior Caroline Bricker secured a surprising victory over Olympic silver medalist Regan Smith in the women’s 200m butterfly, clocking in at 2:05.80.